But content without a purpose is not effective. You need to consider the goals of your content marketing strategy. Ask yourself what you want your audience to do when they consume your content.

Whatever that answer is, your content needs to be engaging if you want to accomplish those goals. What is engaging content?

Well, it all depends on whom you ask and how it's measured. For me, engaging content is all about getting results, such as:

increase in traffic

clicks

opt-ins

conversions

sales

comments

likes

mentions

Any of these metrics can be used to measure engagement.

Here's something else to keep in mind. If your content doesn't engage your readers, they simply won't consume and retain the information. This will end up being a big waste of your time, money, and resources.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's easy to come up with great content.

If you're currently putting out posts, images, and videos that are average at best, it'll take some more effort on your part if you want to see some results.

I've come up with this resource of the top 9 tips for producing content that engages your audience.

1. Be original

Today, it's tough to produce content that's 100% unique.

There is probably someone else out there who is talking about the same thing, took a similar photo, or conducted similar research. That's okay.

The idea is to produce content that stands out. With so much competition, it's no surprise that producing engaging content is the biggest challenge for marketers:

How can you overcome this? Be original.

Yes, you can still blog about a topic that's been previously discussed. But don't write it the same way everyone else has. Add your unique voice and spin to the subject.

Share personal experiences – nobody else had them.

Often, marketers try to come up with the most cost-effective solution to content creation. They pay some writer with no experience to write blog posts at $20 per article.

Well, like anything else, you get what you pay for. You can't expect this type of content to be original and engaging.

Write your content so that it's unmistakably your own. Put your personality into everything you produce. In doing so, you'll end up growing a loyal group of followers and readers.

Again, this takes more time and effort, but it'll be easier for you to increase your engagement metrics this way.

2. Produce actionable content

I just talked about the goals of your marketing campaigns.

What do you want? If you don't know the purpose of your content, the consumer won't have any idea either.

You need to know what you want someone to do after they consume a piece of your content.

For example, let's say you're promoting a new product on your website. You decide to blog about it. This is a great idea, but that alone won't get people to buy the product.

Your post needs to highlight the features and benefits, how it can be used, how you have used it, and how it can improve the lives of the consumers.

This primes the reader to make the purchase. Let's look at an example of that.

This blog post from BuildFire talks about how to hire a developer to build your mobile app. But as a custom app building platform, the team wants its audience to use its software instead:

This section of the blog post starts by questioning the need to hire a developer at all. It discusses some potential issues with that method and offers an alternative solution.

Then the company pitches its own service. The pitch is followed by a hyperlink that brings the reader to a landing page for sign-ups.

This is arguably the most important part of this post. Why?

You can't assume your audience will read something, navigate to your ecommerce site, search for a product, then click on it and add it to their carts.

That's way too many steps. They should be able to complete this action with one click from within the post, just like in the example above.

If your readers can buy something with just a click or two, they will be more likely to complete the action. Do you want readers to sign up for your email list? Give them the option to click to join.

Finding these buttons on your site shouldn't be a scavenger hunt. The buttons need to be obvious so that your site visitors can complete the desired action.

3. Publish accurate information

If you've been reading my blogs for a while, you know how much I love to include statistics and research within my content.

I recommend you do the same.

But you need to be careful of the information you publish. Basically, anyone can put anything on the Internet today. It's important that you recognize the quality and accuracy of the websites you're sourcing.

You may come across a relevant statistic, but if it's on some no-name blog and doesn't include a data source, you can't know for sure whether the information is accurate.

That's why it's best to source your information from authority sites only. In addition to making sure the source is reputable, make sure it's recent.

Information changes at a rapid rate.

A statistic or study from ten years ago may not be relevant today. But if your content provides up to date and accurate info, people will be more inclined to engage with it.

Here's another tip to keep in mind: don't let your old content go to waste. Just because you published something in 2012 doesn't mean you can't refresh it with 2018 information.

Look at how HubSpot uses this strategy to keep its content as up to date as possible:

First, they changed the title. This lets their readers know the post has been updated with new data.

But that's not all it does. HubSpot even tells you the exact date when the team updated the post.

It's an effective strategy.

This shows everyone the website strives to publish accurate information, which readers find more engaging.

If you really want to wow your audience, you could conduct research yourself, producing your own study. This will help you stay original, which I discussed above.

Yes, this will be more difficult and time-consuming. But now you know for sure the results are accurate and 100% unique.

Even if someone else conducted a similar study, the results won't be exactly the same, and yours will be more up to date.

4. Tell a story

While data is important, it's easier for people to relate to stories than to naked facts.

That's why we read books, watch movies, binge-watch television shows, and keep up with reality and celebrity news. We want to know what comes next in the story.

Telling a story will help you connect with your audience. It can also improve your credibility on a subject.

For example, let's say you're writing a fitness blog. If you tell a story that happened during your personal certification training, your audience will realize you're qualified and knowledgeable on the topic.

They are more likely to read what you have to say as opposed to reading content produced by someone who has never worked out a day in their life.

7. Master your headlines

Before your content can be consumed, it needs to be clicked on.

That's why you need to focus your efforts on creating clickable headlines. Whether it's on your website, social media channels, or organic search results pages, your headline will be the first thing people see.

If you've got boring headlines, people have no reason to click.

Just don't give it all away with your headline. For example, if your headline says something like “Men eat more than women,” nobody will have a reason to read the article.

But if it intrigues them with a question which sex eats the most, it will pique the readers' interest, and you'll get more clicks.

Now you have the ability to sell to a huge potential audience. Whether you have a completely new business or an existing brand that just launched an ecommerce site, getting your first few sales can be intimidating.

Existing businesses that expanded to the Internet, using it as an additional sales platform, will have an easier time with this.

That's because they already have current customers familiar with the brand. For the most part, they'll just need to let those customers know they're selling online, and sales should follow.

With that in mind, this guide is designed mostly for those startups that just launched an ecommerce site.

Or maybe you've had a website for a while, but you're just now adding an ecommerce feature to it.

Have influencers wear your product, use it, or demonstrate how it works, just like in the example above.

But do your research before sending your product to just anyone. You want to make sure the influencers you're partnering with fit your target audience and brand strategy.

Offer discounts

As a new brand, you don't have a reputation yet.

Why should someone be the first person to buy something from your website?

They don't see any product reviews or anything else from previous customers since there aren't any. So it's hard to justify paying full price for something from a brand with no reputation and no sales.

As long as it doesn't interfere with your brand image, I recommend slashing your prices in the initial stages.

I get it. Some of you may have a luxury brand that doesn't plan on putting items on sale.

But to get people familiar with your products and generate sales, it's a viable strategy early on.

Here's something else to consider. Offering a discount code increases the chances that you'll make a sale:

That's because people love getting deals. Mark up your initial prices higher than you initially planned to turn a profit with the discount.

Want to get $40 for an item on your site? It's simple. Then list it for $60 and make the sale price $40.

It's an age-old marketing trick.

Market to prospective B2B clients

All too often I see businesses focus strictly on direct to consumer sales.

While there is nothing wrong with this strategy and its higher profit margins, it doesn't mean you should completely dismiss the idea of targeting other businesses.

Consider selling your products at a wholesale rate to retailers.

For example, let's say you've got a brand new ecommerce company that sells clothing. You don't have any physical store locations.

To get your products into the public eye, you can reach out to local, national, and international retailers. Try to get your products in their stores.

Sure, you won't get as much of a profit per item. But bulk orders will be much larger than those from consumers who just want to buy one shirt a time.

Once your product starts selling in one store, other retailers will want it as well. Now that consumers are familiar with your product, they'll look to buy it on your ecommerce site.

Create social media profiles

This is something that should have been done before your site launched.

But for those of you who haven't created social media profiles yet, it's not too late to start. Set up accounts on the most popular platforms:

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Twitter

You need to have active profiles on all these channels. That said, find out which platform your target market uses the most, and prioritize those efforts first.

Drive traffic to your site through these distribution channels. Once you have an active social media presence, it opens the doors for additional marketing opportunities.

Create a simple website design

Simple websites have higher conversion rates.

Take a look at your ecommerce site. Is it simple?

Yes, you might be selling hundreds or potentially thousands of products. But you can't try to fit every single item on your homepage.

Reduce clutter. Get rid of ads.

Include a search bar and menu options for easy navigation. It's okay to have blank space on your site. This will help focus the visitors' attention on your CTA buttons.

You definitely want product images. But don't include large pictures on each page – it'll slow down page loading times.

A simple design translates to a faster loading page. You'll get fewer page abandonments and increase the chances of getting a sale.

Giveaways

Let me clarify what I mean by this. I'm not saying you should just give your product away with no questions asked.

But now that you have your social media channels set up, you can use them to facilitate contests and similar promotions.

The winners of these contests can get your products free. Here's an example of this strategy used by Knockaround on its Instagram profile:

In the early stages of your business, you need to be more willing to give things away. It doesn't have to be your most expensive products, but as long as you're doing something, it will generate some buzz.

You could consider running weekly giveaways or even daily giveaways to put your name out there. This will accomplish a few things.

First, it puts your products into the hands of the consumer. They'll be familiar with it and potentially buy something else as a result of their free gift. These people will also share it with their friends and family, who could also become paying customers.

Even those who didn't win the giveaway now have some interest in your brand. These consumers are also more likely to buy now because your product is on their minds.

Attend a trade show

Many people who have an ecommerce site act as if their business runs strictly online.

Just because you don't have a physical store doesn't mean you can't get out there and sell. Trade shows are a great place for ecommerce brands.

Look for local, regional, and national events to attend. They're everywhere.

Having a presence at one of these events gives your brand exposure to attendees as well as other vendors.

You could potentially meet a vendor interested in buying products at a wholesale rate, which I previously discussed.

Trade shows aren't necessarily the place to sell products. But you'll give away things there to gain exposure.

You could offer some free samples of your products. Or maybe just give away some t-shirts, key chains, stickers, phone cases, and other smaller promotional items with your logo and website to encourage sales.

Give exclusive coupons and promo codes to people who visit your booth at a trade show. It could even be something as drastic as 50% off one item.

Remember, you need to do everything possible to close that first sale.

Reduce friction in your checkout process

So, you've been able to draw traffic to your website with the help of other promotions.

But you're still having trouble getting those visitors to buy something. What's wrong? Perhaps your checkout process is not optimized.

Get rid of unnecessary steps. Once a visitor decides they want a product, you need them to be able to complete the purchase with just a few clicks.

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